To understand Ian Crosswhite, one must look no further than his play in Oregon’s 67-62 overtime win over Washington State on Saturday.
The 6-foot-11 forward contributed a career-high 23 points and five rebounds.
Those stats in themselves are a good indication of his play against the Cougars.
But delve deeper into the sophomore’s eyes and ask him what really matters most, and the true Ian Crosswhite comes out into the open.
That is, if you can make it past the massive black bruise surrounding his right eye, otherwise known as a shiner.
At one point in Oregon’s win, the redshirt sophomore went up for a shot and was elbowed in the head. As the play moved on and he missed the shot — one of only three misses in 13 attempts for him — he was called for a foul.
Ironic? He thinks so. But the black eye is what stands out the most.
“The shiner was worth it,” Crosswhite said. “If we won, it was worth it. As long as we win, I don’t care how many shiners I get.”
There’s a hint of confidence behind Crosswhite’s words, and why not? As Oregon’s main offensive weapon inside, he has run with the role. Stats-wise, he has been phenomenal.
In a quick glance, he’s scored at least 10 points in 17 of the Ducks’ 19 games this season. He has posted double-digit figures in the last seven games, four of which ended as Oregon wins.
“No one can stop him right now,” Oregon forward Mitch Platt said. “Against Washington State, if he doesn’t foul out, we win it outright. He’s just been playing real tough lately.”
A look at the stat sheet doesn’t do Crosswhite justice. His physical stature — he’s listed at 6-foot-11 and 250 pounds — is intimidating to even the Pacific-10 Conference’s best. He gained five pounds since the end of last season, and he weighs 25 more than when he came to the Ducks as a wide-eyed recruit prior to the 2001 year.
Comfortable? Crosswhite is becoming more so every day, and the Australia native is beginning to show it.
“I know every arena we’re going to play in; I know what to expect,” Crosswhite said. “I generally know who I’m going to play against and what they’re going to be like. Being in the Pac-10 for a couple of years, that helps out a lot, too.”
Crosswhite knows what he will see. He has played against Ike Diogu before, and that experience aided Crosswhite when the Ducks played Arizona State on Jan. 22. He scored 15 points.
He knows what he will get from California’s Amit Tamir. That enabled Crosswhite to score 16 points in 34 minutes of play in the Ducks’ 68-56 win at McArthur Court last month.
Crosswhite knows.
“In the Pac-10, at the four position, you can guard anybody like Amit Tamir — who’s 6-foot-10, 6-foot-11 — to Hassan Adams, who’s 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5,” Crosswhite said. “Each night, you know who you’re going to be guarding, but it’s going to be a different type of guy. You can guard a guard-like forward or a big man. It just changes.”
They’re having problems guarding Crosswhite, however.
Last season, that wasn’t the case. He posted 9.3 points per game, starting three of Oregon’s 33 contests. Crosswhite did have a knack for perimeter play. In 54 three-point attempts, he made 23.
The inside game was lacking, though, so he took the time over the summer to practice. He worked out with the likes of Luke Jackson and Jay Anderson, improving his post play.
Namely, that is, the use of his right hand as an offensive tool.
“People recognize I go left a lot,” Crosswhite said. “After you go left a lot of times, (opponents) are sitting on your left hand. So you try to go right or fake like you’re going right, so they move there and you come back left.”
Crosswhite is averaging 14.3 points per game, good enough for second place on Oregon’s scoring list. That figure also places him 11th in the Pac-10 above a handful of the conference’s big men.
He’s also 12th in the Pac-10 in rebounding at 5.9 per game. Rebounding, though, takes a back seat right now as his increased confidence on the scoring end has opened up the team’s offense.

“People have just been keying on the guards, taking us out and forcing us to pass it in,” Oregon guard James Davis said. “(He’s) a presence we haven’t had in the past. Ian is just going to work. They’re going to have to lift up off of us and double-team him, otherwise, he’s going to (score) 20-plus all nights.
“They’ve got to do something. If they play him one-on-one, he’s going to score. If they double-team him, we’re going to knock down shots.”

Come on over
Despite his physical presence and improved confidence, Crosswhite may be best known for his Australian roots. The 21-year-old came to the Ducks as a highly touted forward from down under.
In Australia, he was named the Junior (under 20) Player of the Year by Basketball Australia in 2001. He was a reserve for Australia’s 22-and-Under National Team in the 2001 FIBA World Championship in Japan. That team took eighth.
All of that doesn’t necessarily translate when making the trip from Australia to Oregon.
There were “adjustments, like I had to change the way I speak a little,” Crosswhite said. “People couldn’t understand what I was saying. I would use Australian slang words or I would talk too quickly. My accent was so strong at one point people would look at me with a confused look on their face.
“Now, anytime I talk to somebody back home, they say, ‘You sound like an American.’ Where I would’ve used Australian words, now I use American words.”
One of Crosswhite’s sisters, Anna, plays for Virginia and is a part-time starter for the Cavaliers. He has family throughout the United States, such as in Kansas and Delaware. He’s been treated like another part of the family by some of Oregon’s players and even spent his first Thanksgiving in Oregon with Jackson and his parents, Steve and Kathy.
“The thing about this team is that everyone gets along and you can always go out and hang out with anybody,” Ian Crosswhite said. “That helps a lot because you don’t feel like an outcast at all. Everyone feels like they fit into a certain position or role.”
That, in turn, feeds Crosswhite’s confidence and play on the court.
“At this level, it’s all about confidence,” Davis said. “If your confidence is high, you’re going to play well. His confidence is high right now.”
“He’s played pretty consistently throughout the season,” Jackson said. “In some games, he has a lot better mismatch inside and when we take advantage of that, he plays real well. I’d like to see him be as aggressive as he was against Washington State in just about every game because he’s really capable of being a great weapon.”
That’s exactly what the Pac-10 is finding out, game by game.